Steering-gear.



E. GNOETH.

STEERING GEAR.

APPLICATION I'ILED JUNE 3, 1912.

1,065,905, Patented June 24,1913.

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31mm $21 ywzi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- EMIL GNOETH, OFMADISONVILLE,- OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAM F. HARMON, TRUSTEE, 0FCINCINNATI, OHIO.

STEERING-GEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 24,1913.

Application filed June 3, 1912. Serial No. 701,422.

sonville, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have inventedcertain newand useful Improvements in Steering-Gear,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention is concerned withimprovements in control apparatus anddeals more especially with a device adapted to be actuated to adjust asteering wheel or rudder into any desired position.

One object within the contemplation of this invention is to provide asteering device characterized by strength, durability, simplicity andlow-cost, and which is easily operated, adjustable to take up back-lash,and so constructed that the partsthereof are incased against dust andeasily accessible for purposes of adjustment, repair, replacement orlubrication. i

Another object is to devise a steering-gear adapted to be constructed soas tobe irreversible to any desired extent, and which will be compactand be well adapted to be applied to automobiles without interferencewith the current design of other parts.

Another object is to provide a steeringgear having the foregoingcharacteristics and also making provision for the engine controlelements so that parts thereof may telescope the steering post and leavethe latter at the casing of the steering-gear without any interferencetherewith.

Another object is to create a steering-gear in which the steering posthas an offset mounting on the-main body of the casing and in whichengine control members extend from the end of the steering post andproject through the casing at the side of and above the lower end of themain body thereof.

Another object is to devise a steering-gear having a casing supportingan abutment directly opposite an arm on a rock-shaft, with a nut andscrew intervening between said parts and positioned to exert force in adirect line between the two and thus to act in the most eflicientmanner.

Another object of the preferred form of this invention is to rotate thescrews simultaneously by a gear meshing on the one hand with a gear onthe one screw, and on the other hand with a gear on theother screw,

whereby neither screw may eitert force before the other is released sothat no cramping may result, even should the gears become worn. 1

Other objects and advantages will be in part pointed out in thefollowing description and in part rendered apparent therefrom inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

In order that this invention may be so fully disclosed as will enablethose skilled in theart to embody the principles thereof in varied formsto meet various preferences, drawings of an illustrative example havebeen appended, and in such drawings, like characters ofre'ference denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, of which V Figure l isa front elevation with parts broken away showing the general assembly ofthis structure. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken along line 0, o, ofFig. 1, showing one way inwhich the steering post may be arrangedsimultaneously to drive the two actuating screws. Fig. 3 is a viewpartly in section and partly in elevation, taken along line w, w, ofFig. 1, showing further details of a preferred form of this invention.

Continuing now by way of a more detailed description, it may bepreliminarily noted that while the illustrated apparatus is subject toconsiderable change andmodification within the intended scope of theappended claims, the form shown is in many respects preferred, isessentially practical and presents many features of distinct advantage.

The operative parts of this invention are preferably inclosed in a splittwo-part cas ing composed of sections 1 and 2, so as to be protectedfrom dust and grit and at the same time provide suitable mountings forthe various parts. The section 1 may be provided with an offset housingor sub-casing 3, from the upper end of whichprojects a tube 4, servingas a steering post casing. Within this post casing is a tubular steeringpost or rod 5, that at its upper end may carry a suitable steering wheelor handle in the usual manner. Telescoped within the steering post is anon-rotatable tube 6 that enters through the lower end of such steeringpost and is fixed against rotation at its lower end by its attachment toa part of the offset housing or sub-casing 3 and, at its upper end, thisstationary tube 6 is intended to carry the usual stationary segment thatdetermines the positions of the operating levers of the engineirrespective of the movements of the steering wheel. Such levers may befixed to the tube 7 and rod 8, both of which are rotatable and passthrough the lower wall of the sub-casing 3 and terminate in theoperating levers 7 and 8 respectively.

The construction thus far described of the steering post and enginecontrol members substantially follows that customarily used inautomobiles, and may be modified or in part dispensed with according tocircumstances. The steering post 5 in this form of my invention isarranged at its lower end simultaneously to actuate two screws, and tothat end, suitable gearing is interposed between said two screws, andsaid gearing is operatively connected in a suitable manner with thesteering post, either directly or indirectly. For example, a gear 9 iskeyed to the lower end of the steering rod and is arranged within asuitable pocket provided by the sub-casing 3. This gear meshes with agear 10, arranged on the member 11, which member preferably terminatesin a screw threaded shank 12 at one end, and at its upper end in journal13. The said upper end is provided with a ball-bearing thrustbearing,indicated by 14, that operates on an anti-friction abutment, limitingthe upward movement of the member 11 when it functions to actuate thesteering mechanism. A means instrumental in adjusting said hearing upand down to take up back-lash is also provided. This means may becomposed of a nut 15, having a screw threaded engagement in an opening16, provided by the casing, said nut 15 preferably projects exteriorlyof said casing, so that it may be conveniently accessible for thepurposes of adjustment without making it necessary to gain access to theinterior of the casing. For the purpose of preventing any alteration inthe adjustment of this nut, a lock nut 17 may also be provided, and theparts are exteriorly so arranged that wrenches may be simultaneouslyapp-lied to them. The member 11 is freely rotatable under the control ofits connection with the steering post, and the threads on its lower endare preferably coarse, strong, and have such a pitch as will provide asuitable degree of irreversibility. Cooperating with the threaded end 12of the member 11 is a slid- }ing nut 18 that may be constructed ofbronze or any suitable strong anti-friction material and which isaccurately interiorly threaded to fit the part 12. This elongated nut 18snugly fits in a slide-way provided by the sections of the casing and itis prevented from turning by means of an elongated spline 19, mounted ona suitable rib 20, provided by one of the casing sections 2. The nut hasa suitable axially extending slot in its periphery for engagement withthis splined piece 19. At its lower end the nut 18 has a thrust bearing,as in the form of a block 21, preferably provided with a slide bearingsurface on its exposed end, against which slidably bears a block 22.This block 22 terminates in a knuckle or fulcrum 23 having a roundedperiphery that actuates the steering shaft as will be described. Theblock 22 may be splined, as to the block 21, as indicated by 30, in adirection transverse to the axis of the knuckle 23, to retain it againstlateral displacement. The nut 18 is preferably peripherally providedwith grooves for permitting flow of grease or oil to the surfacesrequiring lubrication, and similar grooves 31 may be formed in thebearing faces of the block 22, and in other parts.

In the lower end of the casing is arranged a rock shaft 24, which isjournaled at one end, as to a casing boss 25, and is also journaled to ahub 26, provided by the casing section 2, through which it projects.This rock shaft provides oppositely extending arms 27, 28, that arepreferably formed integrally therewith, as by being forged therewith,and the arm 28 provides a suitable recess for the knuckle 23, therebyproviding an ample area of bearing surface between these parts. Thesearms are made of considerable cross sectional area, and suflicientlymassive to withstand all ordinary strains that may be imposed thereon.Extended upwardly from the opposite arm 27 is a mechanism preferablyduplicating that heretofore described, and it is so arranged that, whenthe screw threaded end 12 operates to move the nut 18 downwardly, thecorresponding screw thread on the duplicate mechanism wi l operate tomove its nut up wardly and conversely. This duplicate mechanism may ormay not include an abutment adjustment, such as that heretoforedescribed. This arrangement may be made irreversible to any desiredextent by properly predetermining the pitch of the threads on thescrews, and the apparatus may be made practically free of any back-lash,either arising from wear or existing in its initial construction, bysimply operating the screw 15 or its duplicate, or both, as the case maybe. This will be understood by observing that, if the screw 15 be turnedto move downwardly, the movement will be transmitted from one part toanother up to the abutment on the other side, so that any play orlooseness between any of these parts may be taken up to any desiredextent. It will thus be seen that this invention is well adapted toachieve the objects and advan tages enumerated in the foregoing in anessentially practical way, and by means of parts, none of which requireunusual or exb1n1ng a caslng, a

pensive machine operations in their production.

It is noteworthy that any excessive backlash may be taken up, withoutmoving the abutment adjusting nut to an extreme position, by removing ascrew and reinserting its gear advanced a tooth or so in mesh with itscooperating gear.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A device of the naturedisclosed, combining a casing, a rock shaft journaled therein and havingoppositely extending arms, a pair of abutments mounted in said casing,each oppositely distanced from said arms, a nut and screw interveningbetween one of said abutments and one of said arms, a second nut andsecond screw similarly arranged between the other abutment and arm, andmeans for elongating the one nut and screw and simultaneously shorteningthe other nut and screw to rock said shaft.

2. A device of the nature disclosed, comrock shaft journaled therein andhaving oppositely extending arms, a pair of abutments mounted in saidcasing, each oppositely distanced from said arms, a nut and screwintervening between one of said abutments and one of said arms, a secondnut and second screw similarly arranged between the other abutment andarm, means for adjusting the position of said abutment to vary theextent of play in said parts, and means for elongating the one nut andscrew and simultaneously shortening the other nut and screw to rock saidshaft.

3. A device of the nature disclosed, combining a casing, a rock shaftjournaled therein and having oppositely extending arms, a pair ofabutments mounted in said casin each oppositely distanced from saidarms, a nut and screw intervening between one of said abutments and oneof said arms, one of said parts being restrained against rotation andthe other against translation, a second nut and second screw operativelyarranged between the other abutment and arm, means for adjusting theposition of said abutment to vary the extent of play in the parts, andmeans for elongating the one nut and screw and simultaneously shorteningthe other nut and screw to rock said shaft.

4. A steering-gear of the nature disclosed, combining a casing, a rockshaft journaled at one end of said casing and having oppositelyextending arms, a pair of members abutting said arms and mounted toslide without rotating in said casing, a second pair of membersrotatably mounted in said casing, each having a screw threadedengagement with the companion sliding member, abutments limiting thelongitudinal movement of said second members, gears connecting saidsecond members whereby they may be simultaneously rotated, and asteering post connected to rotate said second member whereby saidsliding members may be translated in opposite directions to rock saidshaft.

A steering-gear of the nature disclosed combining a casing, a rock shaftjournaled at one end of said casing and having oppositely extendingarms, a pair of members abutting said arms and mounted to slide withoutrotating in said casing, a second pair of members rotatably mounted insaid casing, each having a screw-threaded engagement with the companionsliding member, abutments limiting the longitudinal movement of saidsecond members, means for adjusting the position of one of saidabutments for varying the extent of backlash in said parts, gearsconnecting said second members whereby they may be simultaneouslyrotated, and a steering post connected to rotate said second memberswhereby said sliding members may be translated in opposite directions torock said shaft.

6. A steering-gear of the nature disclosed combining a casing, a rockshaft journaled at one end of said casing and having oppositelyextending arms, a pair of members abutting said arms and mounted toslide without rotating in said casing, a second pair of membersrotatably mounted in said casing, each having a screw-threadedengagement with the companion sliding member, abutments limiting thelongitudinal movement of said second members, means for adjusting theposition of one of said abutments for varying the extent of backlash insaid parts, gears connecting said second members, whereby they may besimultaneously rotated, said gears being in axial parallelism therewithto enable said members to be adjustably shifted without disturbing thepitch lines of said gears, and a steering post connected to rotate saidsecond members whereby said sliding members may be translated inopposite directions to rock said shaft.

7. A steering-gear of the nature disclosed, combining a steering post, acasing, a pair of members arranged adjacent one another in said casing,a rock shaft having oppositely extending arms, instrumentalities forenabling said post positively to force one member toward one arm and topermit the other member to retreat in an opposite direction, orconversely, and blocks intervening between said arms and members, saidblocks being pivoted on said arms and having a sliding large areaabutment with said member.

8. A steering gear of the nature disclosed, combining a steering post, acasing, a pair of members arranged adjacent one another in said casing,a rock shaft having oppositely extending arms, instrumentalities forenabling said post positively to force one member toward one arm and topermit the other member to retreat in an opposite direction,

or conversely, and blocks intervening between said arms and members,said blocks each having a flat large area face slidably bearing on theend face of a member and also having an elongated rounded fulcrum seatedin a corresponding recess in an arm.

9. A steering-gear of the nature disclosed combining a steering post, acasing, a pair of elongated tubular interiorly threaded members arrangedadjacent one another in said casing peripherally provided withgrease-grooves and splined against rotation to said casing, a rock shafthaving oppositely extending arms, instrulnentalities for enabling saidpost positively to force one member toward one arm and to permit theother member to retreat in an opposite direction, or conversely, andblocks intervening between said arms and members, said blocks eachhaving a tlat large area face slidably bearing on the end face of amember and also having an elongated rounded fulcrum seated in acorresponding recess in an arm.

10. A steeringgear of the nature disclosed, combining a steering post, acasing, a pair of members arranged adjacent one another in said casing,a rock shaft having oppositely extending arms, i strlnnentalities forenabling said post positively to force one member toward one arm and topermit the other member to retreat in an opposite direction, orconversely, blocks intervening between said arms and members, saidblocks being pivoted on said arms and having a sliding large areaabutment with said members, and means restricting movement of saidblocks transversely to said arms.

11. A steering-gear of the nature disclosed, combining a steering post,a casing, a pair of members arranged adjacent one another 1n saidcasing, a rock shaft having oppositely extending arms, instrumentalitiesfor enabling said post positively to force one member toward one arm andto permit the other member to retreat in an opposite direction, orconversely, blocks intervening between said arms and members, saidblocks each having a flat large area face slidably bearing on the endface of a member and also having an elongated rounded fulcrum seated ina corresponding recess in an arm, and means preventing side shift ofsaid block on its fulcrum.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

OLIVER B. KusnR, CLARENCE B. FosTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

